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Nirupama shocks Prakusya

Playing like a champion, India's lone challenger Nirupama Vaidyanathan survived some anxious moments before overcoming fourth-seeded Wynne Prakusya of Indonesia and set up a semi-final clash with second seed Katalin Marosi in the 25,000-dollar ITF Women's tennis tournament in Delhi today.

Nirupama, who is seeded fifth, faced her toughest challenge in the tournament so far as she beat Prakusya 6-2, 1-6, 6-0 in one hour 35 minutes. She had won both her last two encounters well within an hour.

Top-seeded Tathiana Garbin of Italy also cruised into the last four stage as she beat unseeded Abigail Tordoff of Great Britain in straight sets, winning 6-3, 6-0 in just 62 minutes.

Garbin now faces sixth-seeded Rika Hiraki in the semis on Friday. Hiraki today overcame a tough challenge from third-seeded Lucie Ahl of Great Britain, winning 7-5, 7-5 in one hour 29 minutes.

Second-seeded Marosi of Hungary beat unseeded Ju-Yeon Choi of Korea 6-3, 6-3 in the quarters Thursday.

On a sunny day, Nirupama started her match well as she broke Prakusya on her first three serves to lead 5-0. Though the Indonesian broke Nirupama in the sixth game, the Indian served the set out at 6-2.

However, Prakusya seemed to be rejuvenated after a medical break where she nursed a cramp in her left leg. She came back strongly in the second set, breaking Nirupama thrice to take the set 6-1 and stretch the match to the decider.

In the final, the second game on Prakusya's serve proved to be the turning point. Nirupama foiled five game points, also missing three breaks in between. However, she managed to take the fourth with a down-the-line forehand and take a 2-0 lead.

Riding a psychological edge, she broke the Indonesian in all her serves, retaining hers' throughout, to easily take the set 6-0.

Asked about the match, she admitted, ''Prakusya came back strongly in the second set. It was the second game of the third set that proved to be the real turning point.''

About her semifinal clash with Marosi, who at 139 is ranked 82 rungs above her on the WTA rankings, Nirupama said, ''It is going to be exciting, though I have convincingly beaten her once in the second round qualifiers of the US Open where I won in straight sets.

However, she said that Marosi has improved her game considerably from then and has to be taken seriously.

UNI